


And life goes on

by kurojiri



Series: Iron Man Bingo 2019 Fills [14]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Fic, 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Conversations, Baby Peter Parker, Background Relationships, Birthday, Birthday Fluff, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Growing Up, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Insecure Tony, Iron Man Bingo 2019, Parental Tony Stark, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Godson, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Toddler Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark-centric, background Ben/May Parker, background Richard/Mary Parker, background Tony/Pepper, disney land, godfather Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 04:46:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18308468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurojiri/pseuds/kurojiri
Summary: When he had been given the option to be apart of their lives, he carefully took it.





	And life goes on

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sad I didn't get a blackout for my card, but I am proud of how much I did accomplish. Anyways, I'm hyped for the summer round for this event. I also, want to thank everyone who has commented or gave kudos for each fic I wrote. It really does mean a lot!!!
> 
> Square Fill: Birthdays

1:

 

Tony didn’t know if he could do it.  
  
A few hours ago, he had been typing and calculating for a side project that had taken over a few weeks of his time when Pepper had called for him. The grease had now been thicker from his fingertips, the stains of his clothes were all telling of his lack of sleep. He knew he looked a mess. Not that it had been anything new, Tony had always been the type to usher a sleep-deprived look but still make it chic. It had been his lifestyle since he could multitask his partying mood and working inside his lab for days at a time.  
  
Rhodey had come to live with that chaotic nature in MIT, and now with Happy and Pepper, they had been molded into his eccentrics since he had been named CEO for the company. That had been a wild ride of emotions. All stuffed from the rows of drinks he drank. The blackout too when Rhodey or Pepper had to clean his vomit.  
  
That had been months ago since he had to let go of those habits. He still had those urges and felt the imprints of his palms where he touched glass cups. It all felt familiar and an easy path to go back to. Yet, he couldn’t enjoy those kinds of indulges and pleasures. It had been months since he could. He had been clean. Had to be if—  
  
“Tony. What are you doing still inside the lab?” Pepper’s red hair flashed into his peripheral vision, then her eyes that locked to his state of hunching down. “Don’t you remember what’s happening at 2pm?”  
  
He gulped the air, still praying that he would not ruin anything for that day if he chose to leave his sanctuary. He had the reminder flagged by JARVIS all month. Not that it had made it any less scary.  
  
Tony was sweating buckets. Could see that Pepper was debating with herself if she would allow him to leave his California mansion and potentially ruin a 1-year old’s birthday in New York by bringing him along. Pepper had picked out the present, had chatted with Mary and Richard Parker and monitored him when Tony was in the room too with his godson. All those months had progressed into him helping them by paying for the quickie wedding where he had met the rest of Mary and Richard’s families.  
  
It had been awkward, but as he was Tony Stark, he made his smiles wide and charming. (And maybe too charming when he came back not alone.)  
  
But it had been very scary the way Mary and Richard both had expressed for him to being Peter’s Godfather. They all had met in MIT with Rhodey. They all knew that Richard had his own brother Ben and his girlfriend May that were better suited for it. Hell, even when he came a few days later after the birth of Peter, Tony still had felt overwhelmed with the title. Ben and May had been easier to adjust with Peter in their lives.  
  
While Tony, he had been a tornado of sobbing at Rhodey’s chest and screaming and crying to JARVIS. Pepper had been his counselor too. And Happy, well, he had taken him to a lot of burger joints, the twenty-four-hour ones when he needed to evaluate his life choices under neon lights while eating greasy junk food and ice cream. In the end, when he had held Peter Parker after Ben and May’s turns, his whole world realigned itself. The brown doe eyes that opened to him had made him feel as if he had a heart attack. It had been too demanding that his life changed too suddenly and not at all.  
  
It wasn’t like he was a new parent. Just a godfather. The backup in case something happened to Mary and Richard, and after Ben and May. (And oh boy, was Tony getting really paranoid. He needed to up their security in the apartment that they lived in. Queens, New York could be tough. And Peter—oh god, Tony had been crumbling there.) That day had officially made Tony Stark a new man.  
  
“Peter’s first birthday is in three days. We have a plane to catch and have a day to get over jet lag.”  
  
And they did. Tony had grimaced as he walked away from the monitor. The picture of a newborn Peter in his arms was framed and placed by one of the desks he usually sat in. It gleamed and showed a snot-faced Tony with a smiling sleepy Peter. It still brought him into tears if he glanced at it for too long.  
  
He could still feel unequipped for the whole ordeal, but he gritted his teeth before leaving his lab. After a quick shower and having Pepper follow him to where Happy was the plane ride went as smooth as it could with Pepper’s planning. He went through schematics in his tablets to wear his brain down with numbers and science in general, tried to calm his nerves with some breathing techniques he had been forced to learn after he stopped his drinking. The sobriety life was cruel and unforgiving in the beginning stages.  
  
When he hit New York, he had called the Parkers. Had seen a gurgling but, very active, rolling Peter in the group. The smile aimed right at him had brightened him considerably for the birthday party. The first day back had been used for catching up on sleep and going to meetings. It had been a routine of being responsible that still felt new and breakable at times. But it had been welcoming when he knew that these positive habits could one day chew off the bad ones. (He had been practicing on how to be optimistic.)  
  
On the second he had been running off his nerves, eating what he could from the nutritionist that Pepper assigned him with his trainer. He knew that she had been making sure that he would gain some of those habits and hopefully show an older Peter when he could talk and move around. She had always been that type to think ahead like him. And, it had made him hopeful for that kind of future.  
  
For Peter to live with a godfather that didn’t have too many issues. And for Tony, to maintain a healthy set of people in his life after he lost others.  
  
Before he knew it, Peter’s birthday came. He had been semi casual in his wardrobe, had Pepper come along for moral support and had gone straight to their apartment's rooftop for the small party. The decorations had been full of light blues and reds that included hoards of balloons that had been a nice touch to entertain some toddlers and babies like Peter. Whose chubby cheeks were still rosy red and soft and far too delicate to be left alone with him as he noticed the curls on his head been curling more under his party hat. There had been few other infants in the small group and a small silence when he came over.  
  
Going incognito had been difficult considering his face was barely hidden by his shade of sunglasses. Pepper’s sharp pencil skirt and blazer had been a little too formal as it gave her an air of importance. He would have left in a hurry, but when Richard came around the corner and placed a giggling Peter to his chest, he had felt his legs freeze in place. His arms, still green from the few attempts of having held him before during his visits, made the experience somewhat a panic.  
  
“Tony, it’s great to see you! And you too Pepper.”  
  
He had shaken hands with Pepper and patted Tony’s shoulder while he had tried his best to hold a squirming Peter that loved to grab his sunglasses with his sticky hands. (It looked like Peter had been stuffing himself with orange slices again.) Half his brain had been on how to maintain a firm grip on Peter, and the other to keep a nonchalant grin between Richard, and Pepper as he noticed a small chain of the guest that had noticed his arrival.  
  
“Great party you’ve got.”  
  
And it had been. Quaint, and humble. He still had needed some help to adjust himself when he had been feeding Peter with some of his cake later in the party, but he figured that with Peter close to him and enjoying the sun, that it had been worth the sudden life changes Tony had been subjected to. It had after all, given him Peter.

 

 

 

3:

 

A three-year-old Peter Parker was a sprinter.  
  
He swept through the hallways indiscriminately. Had rolled in all the fluffy rugs and loved the building blocks that had been scattered in his room or living room from his apartment. He was simply a lively child since he could babble and his motor skills allowed him to scan his areas.  
  
That kind of tempo had, of course made Tony a worried godfather when he visited. Had made close calls when he had been put in diaper duty or babysitting when Ben and May couldn’t. Pepper had been godsend, as too Rhodey when he visited. When his third birthday came around, it only was to be expected that his parents, but mainly Mary and May who both loved planning ahead for it. That came to months of going through possible themes, picking color schemes and of course, food choices. Peter had picked the cake too when he tested and eagerly smashed his fist in vanilla as opposed to chocolate or strawberry.  
  
When the date came, Tony was still nervous. But it had edged for the few close-knit groups of people coming and going in Mary and Richard’s lives during their jobs. The balloon animals made by a child entertainer had been addition since Peter had been going through a phase where he loved grabbing animal balloons from other parties his parents were invited to or from the zoo trips Tony took him with Happy in the background checking on how much money he wasted when he took Peter out by Pepper’s request.  
  
(If they had let him loose, they all knew Tony would buy too many balloons to fit the Parker’s apartment. It had happened during their first trip to the zoo. He couldn’t say no to Peter when he saw them the first time.)  
  
Between his mingling and taking a small plate filled with lots of kid friendly food available (by the research done by May and Mary) he had watched the birthday boy running with the other toddlers. His birthday hat had skidded off from the center, making his wild curls escape from underneath. His cheeks still, rosy and round huffed as he spotted Tony. He could easily see how Peter's brown eyes widen and Tony should have taken a photo, but he had been too busy with kneeling down as his godson ran over to him for a hug.  
  
“Happy birthday kiddo.”

 

 

 

5: 

  
Five years-old was not that different from three. But it also was. He was going to be in kindergarten by fall. His reading level was ahead than most as JARVIS had helped him with some words when he came over to Tony’s New York penthouse. He had been using that place often than living in the Malibu one the longer he was exposed by Peter. He had wanted to find more days and weeks to spend time with the Parker family. They had reminded him that since his loss of his mom and original Jarvis, he could still find others to be a part of his family.  
  
But he had also been helping Richard and Mary vacation in California, so he could take Peter to all the amusement parks and attractions available for him. He may have been spoiling his godson a bit, but he had also been given that opportunity to do so with his title as godfather. And what else could a billionaire do if not spent the money he had for his godson?  
  
For that year he had won the draw and had paid for all their expenses to try out California for Peter’s fifth birthday. Mainly, for the weekend trip to stay over Disneyland. His godson had loved all the movies and TV Shows. So, it had made sense for Tony to gain access and priority to orchestrate Peter’s bash. Again, he had gone as far as he could without making the world watch his every moment, he had with the Parkers and other close friends like Happy and his family, Pepper and Rhodey’s clan to celebrate Peter’s achievement of making it to five. All the kids enjoyed it.  
  
Mary may have sighed, but Richard had been used to his billionaire flare as Rhodey was too. For most of the afternoon and night he had the park. All the characters were there, the music playing the classics. And Tony went to all the rides that Peter wanted him to ride with.  
  
He had JARVIS take a lot of photos of Peter in the Stitch hat, while he wore the goofy hat Peter had picked out for him. (The Mickey Mouse balloons were, of course everywhere as Peter loved holding as much as his hands and body could handle without hindering him walking around the park, or having someone like, Ben, Richard, Rhodey, him etc. carry him.)  
  
With the cake out, the singing done by the characters and performers Peter been smiling throughout the whole day and trip. He clapped and danced with the performances too. It had been funny the way a five-year old could command a crowd of people to dance, even including himself when he aimed his doe eyes at him. After a whole packed afternoon and night, Peter’s energy slowly dwindled as the fireworks emerged from the skies.  
  
During the show, Peter came over to his chair. His Stitch hat had been left over to his dad’s shoulder leaving his curls out in the open. His voice was cracked from laughing so much and screaming with the other kids all day.  
  
“Uncle Tony! Thank-you for the best party ever!”  
  
The hug he got for it had been worth it. Peter would always be.  
  
“It’s no problem Pete.”

 

 

 

10:

  
Tony could say his life had once again got complicated. Not by his choice either, he never asked for it. Right around the corner, Iron Man’s fame had started to make his time even busier than before. It didn’t help that Peter kept growing up and seeing the clips of his suit on the news. Or how his godson saw him partake into the shenanigans the world had put him in when he had joined the Avengers.  
  
It had been tough given that when Richard and Mary died it had made a couple of Peter’s birthdays somber as they tried to build their lives again with those empty seats. The holidays were awkward too when Peter had asked Santa or for Tony politely if he could use his money to find them and bring them back from the sky. Ben and May had eventually been there to explain the concept of death to him when Tony couldn’t.  
  
Quickly for any person, the apartment had been sold right after the funerals. May and Ben became his guardians. That shift in Peter’s circle had showed how much Tony’s life didn’t walk away from death’s hands. Especially with a child that hung to his words as much as Ben and May's when he had tried to cope with losing his parents. Their bond hadn’t been cut off, but Tony had also been very scared about seeing someone like Peter being orphaned by his parents.  
  
It had been a slow process of Peter trying to smile. Of Ben and May working hard to provide Peter a safe and warm home as Richard and Mary did. They were young, with no children of their own. But they also had Tony, a man that had been a target since his father had made a name of himself to the world. It had made being a superhero all the more dangerous. He wanted to quit; but when something came too close, threatening Peter’s way of life Tony always ended up getting inside his suit. He had JARVIS looking out for him.  
  
A new team too, sort of.  
  
He just knew that the Avenger’s business had costed him hours and then years of wondering why bad things happened to his life, and to the people he loved.  
  
Then, the merchandise popped up. His own penthouse in New York and California mansion had exploded with Peter’s awe and cheeky smile when he came over with his merchandise. He bought him Iron Man mugs, t-shirts to match with him and his uncle when they went out. To having a birthday party with the theme colors as red and gold like his suit.  
  
Peter had wanted an Iron Man piñata, but then had crossed that idea out and replaced it with another generic non-animal type. (The last time it had been an animal Peter cried about it dying when someone started to whack it.)  
  
Now, he had been flattered and touched for having someone like Peter to think of him as a hero, but it had also worried him that his business as a hero would incite his godson to want to plunge into that line of work. May and Ben had too when they saw the news. Or when he came back a bit banged up. Pepper, Rhodey and Happy did their best to help him from getting reckless. And JARVIS, well his A. I had snitched during missions or when he forgot to eat or sleep.  
  
Peter though, had been really what balanced his fame as Iron Man, and Tony Stark. He had always been there, asking to spend time working on kid-friendly experiments, or to watch movies with them. Dinners with the Parkers were always warm and safe.  
  
Birthdays, too.

 

 

 

15:

The year when Peter was turning fifteen had been tricky.  
  
He had thought that with Peter turning twelve it would have been delicate with all that puberty talk. Ben had been talking to him about it, how he was preparing to giving Peter the speech and if Tony wanted to be there to help with his own experience. He had wanted to say no, that Howard hadn’t bothered to give him a speech, and he turned out somewhat—he ended going. He even had made sure to have pamphlets, a PowerPoint, and JARVIS on to help them explain anything else.  
  
One puberty talk, later and having Peter move up to middle school had made its rounds for new problems and triumphs. He had always been a smart kid, and when he had joined a few clubs that included academic and music, Tony had been hoping that nothing would hunker down to stop his kid.  
  
Of course, people like Flash came up. Or the death of Ben. That had made it all hard for them all to get around.  
  
Those months his fourteen-year-old godson had been quiet. Quit most of his clubs. And, had been hacking FRIDAY’s GPS randomly.  
  
Tony knew that Peter wanted to be alone. To help May around where he could. But it had hurt Tony and May that Peter had isolated himself in school and in the visits when Tony went to their apartment. The dinners had been awkward too in his penthouse and Tower. Without Pepper’s influence it had made his own walls crumble as his own heart felt like something was bound to happen.  
  
His paranoia went as far as FRIDAY cataloging when a new figure came in New York. He had heard of Daredevil, The Punisher and all those low-turf people going around their respective neighborhoods. It had made him terrified when one clicked in Queens.  
  
Then, as the hit with clips of this Spider-Man in YouTube with an aligned scale of sketches of who it could it be, Tony’s heart stopped.  
  
The civil war between the Avengers happened, and he hated himself more. Because he remembered all of Peter’s birthdays he attended, of all the plays Peter auditioned for, or spelling bees he won. His kid had grown up faster than he’d like. It had broken him that something unfair like Peter losing two father figures before he became an adult. For years Tony had been praying for Peter to gain a safer life than what Tony was given.  
  
But then, he got bit by a radioactive spider!  
  
(Tony still couldn’t process that. That his godson’s luck was just that terrible. Or that he did in fact, become a super-hero because he believed that with his new-found abilities, he had had the power and duty to help the world.)  
  
When he hadn’t known yet about Peter’s secret of being the wall crawler it had been stressful; and when he did find out, Tony’s heart almost gave up. On his fifteen birthday, May had saved enough to have a small bash in their apartment. The decorations had been quaint, with Ned, Happy, Rhodey there. Pepper had sent her love since she had been away from the country for CEO duties unfortunately. Right after the gifts had been given and the cake sliced Tony had asked for a private moment.

The fire escape hadn’t been what Tony preferred, but he made due as Peter liked to dangle his legs from there. The night sky had been cold, nipping his cheeks as he looked at the city.

"I promised you already that I wouldn’t tell your aunt about the bite without your permission. But, Pete—” He took a deep breath. “Your aunt is a reasonable woman; I would know since I've known her for a good while. And I know the timing isn’t exactly perfect but if you prolong this conversation it won't be pretty.”

His curls were recently cut, making it accessible for Tony to see the worry lines on his forehead. “But you’ve seen her when Uncle Ben died. She was devastated! She’s barely getting better.”

“Yes, but we’re also the adults here kid.” He made it a point to look directly at him. “You’re still so young. You shouldn’t be wasting your youth in dangerous situations. The world doesn’t owe you anything.”

Peter was stubborn too as he lifted his head. “But by being Spider-Man, look at how much good I've been able to accomplish since I started going out. With her knowing she’ll make me stop. And then what? To all the people that need me?”

Peter ended it with him stand up to face him directly. His eyes bright by the lights from his room. Tony could pick up the background hum of the various movements from other apartment floors. And the playlist someone picked in the kitchen.

“I’m just saying that May has the right to know where you are going. She’s your guardian. She’s loved you since she found out your mom was having you.” One had stretched forward to his godson’s head. “None of us want you to get hurt.”

“ _I know_.”

“Then tell her underoos. If it helps, I’ll even be there when you do. Okay?”

His heart didn't completely calm down until Peter sighed out a response.  
  
“Okay.”

 

 

 

+Tony’s own: 

 

It had been another round of wild missions, of himself retiring for good and Spider-Man going to college. May had calmed down eventually after that reveal and, had trusted him to look out for their spider-kid. And then, life went on.  
  
Peter went through other firsts. First kisses, to first actual relationships and heartbreaks. The team gained new faces, more foes and Tony himself getting more frequent faint heart attacks from Peter being Peter. During his second year in college, Peter had grown to be a great leader. A man that he knew Richard, Mary and Ben would be proud of. Even if it had arranged for him getting more gray hairs covering his head.  
  
And Peter had his own god sibling for a couple of years now. Morgan had been both a joy and a semi surprise between himself and Pepper. Back before the dusting happened, he had a dream about it. Of him rebuilding and adding to the family. Now, as Morgan came, so did more birthdays. Peter loved to plan like Pepper and May.

With the month slipping away from April, he knew that Peter and a very excited Morgan would be both dashing around his penthouse with poorly hidden decorations around their persons. He didn’t bother snooping as he knew FRIDAY would be helping them hide the supplies in another room. One way or another, when his birthday came around, he knew that it wouldn’t matter about the colors they picked or how expensive they rented a restaurant for that day.  
  
All that mattered was that he had been happy that he had said yes to being Peter’s godfather all those years ago. Because, it had given him wonderful and warm birthday parties to attend now. In the end, Tony couldn't regret the results he got since then.


End file.
